FYS 1010

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the use of computers to mimic or model human thinking, reasoning, learning, and related behaviors. Generative AI (Gen-AI) is a subset of artificial intelligence that generates content based on the tool's knowledge base.

AI tools can be very useful, but AI-generated content also comes with challenges related to copyright and plagiarism.

(Generative) AI Tools for Academic Research

When is AI plagiarism (or unethical)?

• Coping/pasting AI-generated written content and submitting it (with little or no changes)
• Getting citations (without actually finding, reading, and evaluating the sources)
• Using AI-generated summaries of a source in place of actually reading the source

AI can be bad at...

• Context - understanding who your audience is and what you can expect them to already know (background)
• Emotions & Culture - understanding nuances of human-to-human communication
• Bias - may inherit any biases present in the data/content used to train it

What are some ethical uses for AI in education?

• Using AI to help with brainstorming topics, subtopics, and keywords
• Checking your understand of dense academic material*
• Brainstorming a title for your paper, speech, presentation, etc.
• Checking for typos or grammatical errors

*Be careful! AI may misinterpret things since it can't always recognize nuance.

Even when ethically using AI, these tools can still come with unintended problems.

For example, asking a gen-AI tool to summarize an article can be helpful to make sure that you understood the main points from the article you just read. However, this isn't foolproof! Here's an example where ChatGPT completely missed the point when summarizing this article:

Khoddami S, Kiser MC and Moody CM (2023). Why can’t we be friends? Exploring factors associated with cat owners’ perceptions of the cat-cat relationship in two-cat households. Front. Vet. Sci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1128757
 

ChatGPT's Summary

This article examines the potential applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in veterinary medicine, particularly in diagnosing diseases and predicting treatment outcomes for animals. It highlights how AI tools, such as machine learning algorithms, can analyze large datasets to identify patterns and provide valuable insights for veterinarians. The authors discuss various AI techniques, including deep learning and natural language processing, and their potential to revolutionize veterinary practice. They also address challenges such as data quality and ethical considerations, emphasizing the need for collaboration between veterinarians and AI experts to maximize the benefits of these technologies in animal healthcare.

My Summary (quoting a succinct statement from the article)

“Our survey results show that the cat-cat relationship in two cat households is complex and impacted by many factors such as, cat sex, age, relatedness, outdoor access, resource provision in the home, and aggression directed toward other people and animals in the home.” (Khoddami et al. 8)

Use an adapted format for citing software when generating citations for for AI tools:

• Author - use the company/author of the model (for example: use OpenAI is the author of ChatGPT)
• Date - include the year of the version you used
• Title - name of the model/tool (such as ChatGPT)
• Version - include the version number in parentheses
• Additional Information - use [bracketed text] to help the reader understand what is being cited (for example: use [Large language model] for ChatGPT)
• Source - if the publisher has a different name than the company/author, include this before the URL
• URL - include the link to the model/tool

Example: ChatGPT

In-Text Citation

(OpenAI, 2023)

Reference

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

Use MLA's "core elements" template to generate your citation:

• Author - do not treat the AI tool as an author
• Title of Source - description of what the AI tool generated (including information about the prompt)
• Title of Container - name of the AI tool
• Version - include the most specific version number (which may include a date)
• Publisher - the company that made the tool
• Date - when the content was generated
• Location - general link (URL) for the tool

Example: ChatGPT (& DALL-E)

In-Text Citation

("Describe the symbolism")

Work Cited

“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

Work Cited for DALL-E (visual works)

“Pointillist painting of a sheep in a sunny field of blue flowers” prompt, DALL-E, version 2, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, labs.openai.com/.